Zahir al-Umar

Zahir al-Umar
ظاهر العمر
Artistic representation of Zahir al-Umar by Ziad Daher Zedani, 1990
Governor of Sidon, Nablus, Jerusalem, Gaza, Ramla, Jaffa and Jabal Ajlun
In office 1774–1774
Preceded by	Darwish Pasha al-Kurji (Sidon)
Succeeded by	Jazzar Pasha (Sidon)
Sheikh of Acre and All Galilee Emir of Nazareth, Tiberias and Safed
In office 1768–1775
Preceded by	None
Succeeded by	Jazzar Pasha (as governor Acre)
Multazim of Tiberias
In office 1730–1750s
Preceded by	Umar al-Zaydani
Succeeded by	Salibi al-Zahir
Multazim of Deir Hanna
In office 1761–1767
Preceded by	Sa'd al-Umar
Succeeded by	Ali al-Zahir
Personal details
Born	1689 or 1690 Arraba, Sidon Eyalet, Ottoman Empire
Died	21 or 22 August 1775 Acre, Sidon Eyalet, Ottoman Empire
Relations	Banu Zaydan (family)
Children	Salibi Ali Uthman Sa'id Ahmad Salih Sa'd al-Din Abbas Nijma (daughter)
Parent	Umar al-Zaydani

Zahir al-Umar al-Zaydani, alternatively spelled Daher al-Omar or Dahir al-Umar (Template:Lang-ar, 1689/90 – 21 or 22 August 1775) was the autonomous Arab ruler of northern Palestine in the mid-18th century, while the region was part of the Ottoman Empire. For much of his reign, starting in the 1730s, his domain mainly consisted of the Galilee, with successive headquarters in Tiberias, Arraba, Nazareth, Deir Hanna and finally Acre, in 1746. He fortified Acre, and the city became the center of the cotton trade between Palestine and Europe. In the mid-1760s, he reestablished the port town of Haifa nearby.

Zahir withstood assaults and sieges by the Ottoman governors of the Sidon and Damascus provinces, who attempted to limit or eliminate his influence. He was often supported in these confrontations by the rural Shia Muslim clans of Jabal Amil. In 1771, in alliance with Ali Bey al-Kabir of the Egypt Eyalet and with backing from Russia, Zahir captured Sidon, while Ali Bey's forces conquered Damascus, both acts in open defiance of the Ottoman sultan. At the peak of his power in 1774, Zahir's autonomous sheikhdom extended from Beirut to Gaza and included the Jabal Amil and Jabal Ajlun regions. By then, however, Ali Bey had been killed, the Ottomans entered into a truce with the Russians, and the Sublime Porte felt secure enough to check Zahir's power. The Ottoman Navy attacked his Acre stronghold in the summer of 1775 and he was killed outside of its walls shortly after.

The wealth Zahir accumulated through monopolizing Palestine's cotton and olive oil trade to Europe financed his sheikhdom. For much of his rule, he oversaw a relatively efficient administration and maintained domestic security, although he faced and suppressed several rebellions by his sons. The aforementioned factors, along with Zahir's flexible taxation policies and his battlefield reputation made him popular among the local peasantry. Zahir's tolerance of religious minorities encouraged Christian and Jewish immigration to his domain. The influx of immigrants from other parts of the empire stimulated the local economy and led to the significant growth of the Christian communities in Acre and Nazareth and the Jewish community in Tiberias. He and his family, the Zaydani clan, also patronized the construction of commercial buildings, houses of worship and fortifications throughout the Galilee. Zahir's rule over a virtually autonomous area in Palestine has made him a national hero among Palestinians today.

Early life

See also: Al-Zayadina

Zahir's purported home in Arraba

Zahir was born in Arrabat al-Battuf and grew up in Saffuriya, both villages in the central Galilee. His date of birth is not definitively known, with the years 1686, 1689/1690 and 1694 cited by Zahir's contemporary biographers Volney, Mikha'il Sabbagh and Khalil al-Muradi, respectively. According to the modern biographer Ahmad Hasan Joudah, 1689/1690 is the most likely year of his birth because he considers Sabbagh to be the most reliable source for Zahir's personal life. The proper transliteration of his given name is Ẓāhir, but in the colloquial Arabic of the Galilee, his name is pronounced Ḍāhir. He was the youngest of four sons born to Sheikh Umar al-Zaydani; his brothers were Sa'd, Salih and Yusuf, and his sister was Shammah. They belonged to the Banu Zaydan, a roughly fifty-strong, semi-nomadic Arab clan which had established itself in Tiberias in the late 17th century.

The Zaydans maintained commercial trade relations extending from the Galilee to Damascus and Aleppo. The wealth they accumulated through trade enabled them to acquire iltizam, or tax farms, in the Galilee. Zahir's father, Umar, and grandfather, Salih, had both served as the multazims (limited-term holders of iltizam) of Tiberias and/or Safed, having been appointed by the emirs of the Ma'n dynasty, paramount chiefs of the Druze and multazims of Mount Lebanon and surrounding areas on behalf of the Ottoman governor of Sidon Eyalet, the province which spanned Mount Lebanon, the Galilee, and the adjacent Mediterranean coast. The head of the Zaydans obtained the iltizam of Arraba and the Shaghur area north of it as a result of the inhabitants' petitions to the governor of Sidon following the Zaydans' assault and destruction of the nearby Druze village of Sallamah, whose chief had previously controlled it. These events boosted the Zaydans' territorial ambitions. Around this time, Umar's brother Ali gained the iltizam of Damun and another brother, Hamza, gained an iltizam near Nazareth.

The Ma'ns were succeeded as paramount leaders of the Druze by their Sunni Muslim marital relatives, the Shihab dynasty, in 1697. The Shihab emir, Bashir I, was awarded the iltizam of Safed by Sidon's governor in 1699, and delegated the position to his brother Mansur. Zahir's father was installed by Bashir as Mansur's deputy and succeeded him after Mansur's death in 1701 or 1702. Zahir's elder brother Sa'd became the head of the family when their father died in 1706, but the family's iltizam were transferred to Zahir, a teenager at the time. The transfer was a precautionary measure to prevent the authorities from holding the practical owners of the iltizam accountable in the event of a default in payments. Legal control of the Zaydani iltizam gave Zahir considerable power within his clan.

In 1707, Zahir killed a man from Tiberias in a brawl. As a result, Sa'd moved the family from the Tiberias area to Arraba after being offered safe haven there by the Banu Saqr, a Bedouin (nomadic Arab) tribe which dwelt the area between Safed and Nablus. In Arraba, Zahir received a degree of formal education from a Muslim scholar, Abd al-Qadir al-Hifnawi. He also learned how to hunt and fight. When the Shaghur village of Bi'ina was attacked by forces dispatched by the governor of Sidon sometime between 1713 and 1718, Zahir played an important role in defending the village and evaded the governor's troops. According to contemporary chroniclers, this event, along with Zahir's moderate personality, made him a local folk hero. His martial talents gained him further respect among the peasantry throughout the 1720s.

Along with Sa'd, Zahir also gained prestige among the people of Damascus, with whom he continued the commercial relationships established by his father. Among the contacts Zahir made there was the Muslim scholar Abd al-Ghaffar al-Shuwayki, who introduced Zahir to Sayyid Muhammad of the Husayni family, which provided the sharifs (descendants of the Islamic prophet Muhammad) of Damascus at the time; Zahir married Sayyid Muhammad's daughter and moved to Nazareth because she considered Arraba too small. When Sayyid Muhammad died, Zahir inherited his fortune.

Rule

Consolidation of power in the Galilee

Map of Palestine in January 1721 just before Zahir Al Umar Al Zaydani would start consolidating power

Remains of the citadel at Tiberias which Zahir built early in his rule

In the late 1720s, Zahir and his brother Yusuf, backed by the Banu Saqr, captured Tiberias and its mutesellim (subdistrict governor and tax collector). Concurrently, Zahir issued a letter to Köprülü Abdullah Pasha, the governor of Sidon, accusing the mutesellim of oppression and imposing illegal taxes on the population. Zahir requested the iltizam of Tiberias and Arraba, promising to timely forward taxes and rule justly. Köprülü Pasha consented, marking the first time a Zaydani multazim was directly appointed by the governor of Sidon rather than the semi-autonomous multazims of Mount Lebanon. Zahir made Tiberias his principal base and was joined there by his Zaydani kinsmen. He appointed his cousin, the multazim of Damun Muhammad ibn Ali, as commander of the family militia.

Zahir extended his rule southward toward Nazareth and the Jezreel Valley (Marj Ibn Amer) between the Galilee and Jabal Nablus (e.g. Samaria). Capturing these areas was a drawn-out process, and his efforts to take Nazareth, a town in Safed Sanjak but controlled by the Jarrar family based in Nablus Sanjak, caused the ruling clans of the Nablus hinterland, along with Zahir's erstwhile allies, the Banu Saqr, to challenge him. Zahir, meanwhile, relied on his Zaydani kinsmen, Nazareth's residents, and Maghrebi mercenaries whom he commissioned in the mid-1730s under their commander Ahmad Agha al-Dinkizli. In 1735, Zahir's 2,000-strong force routed the Jarrars and the Banu Saqr at al-Rawda, near al-Mansi, in the Jezreel Valley, killed their leader Sheikh Ibrahim al-Jarrar, and captured Nazareth. According to the historian Hanna Samarah, Zahir's forces inflicted 8,000 fatalities among the Jarrar-Saqr coalition during the battle.

Following his victory, Zahir called for reinforcements and 4,000 people from his domains heeded the call, joining his forces in their attempt to subdue Jabal Nablus. Among them were many residents of Nazareth, including Christian women who supplied the troops with food and water. Zahir's forces pursued the Jarrars to their throne village of Sanur, but withdrew after failing to capture the fortress. The defeat marked the limit of Zahir's influence south of the Jezreel Valley and confirmed the Jarrars as the dominant force of Jabal Nablus over their rivals, the Tuqans. While the Jarrars and Zahir eventually concluded a truce, the former continued to mobilize the clans of Jabal Nablus to prevent Zahir's southward expansion.

In 1738, Zahir's forces captured the fortress at Jiddin and the villages in its political orbit, Abu Snan and Tarshiha, in the northern Galilee. Jiddin had been ruled by Ahmad al-Husayn, whose family historically controlled it. The peasants under his rule complained that he governed oppressively and appealed to Zahir, who was known for treating the peasantry fairly, to relieve them of Ahmad. Eager to expand his control toward the Mediterranean, Zahir accepted their proposition and obtained permission from Sidon's governor, Ibrahim Pasha al-Azm, to seize the fortress. Ahmad had also approached the governor, who, hoping to see two powerful local leaders weakened, gave him his blessing as well. Zahir assembled a 1,500-strong force and defeated Ahmad's forces near the fortress. He was then appointed multazim of Jiddin.

Bi'ina, which was also fortified, withstood a siege by Zahir in 1739, but he then married the daughter of its mukhtar (headman), and added the village to his domain. He also acquired the fortress of Suhmata through diplomacy, further solidifying his hold over northern and eastern Galilee. In 1740, Zahir made an agreement with the neighboring Bedouin tribes to end their looting raids in the area. By then, Sa'd had taken control of Deir Hanna and Muhammad ibn Ali captured Shefa-Amr, entrenching the presence of the Zaydans in the western Galilee. After negotiations, Muhammad al-Naf'i, the multazim of Safed, surrendered the city to Zahir. Safed was the administrative seat of the sanjak and situated on a strategic hill overlooking the Galilee countryside. Zahir afterward acquired the nearby fortified village of Deir al-Qassi after marrying the daughter of its sheikh, Abd al-Khaliq Salih.

Zahir's takeover of the Safed region and the western Galilee removed the barriers between him and the Twelver Shia Muslim clans of Jabal Amil, who were referred to in the sources as the Metawalis. Zahir informed the Metawali sheikh Nasif al-Nassar of his intent to acquire the fortified villages of Bassa and Yaroun on the borders between the Zaydani and Metawali domains. In response, Sheikh Nasif launched an assault against Zahir and the two sides fought indecisive skirmishes in the border village of Tarbikha. Zahir received reinforcements from his Maghrebi cavalry and defeated the Metawalis, pursuing Nasif to his headquarters in the Tibnin castle. Zahir's brother Sa'd mediated an end to the fighting and secured a mutual defense pact between Zahir and Nasif, whereby the former would receive control of Bassa and Yaroun and the Metawalis' support in his confrontations with the governors of Damascus; in return, Nasif's sons, who were captured by Zahir's troops, were released, the Metawalis' tax payments to Sidon were reduced by a quarter, and Zahir guaranteed to back Nasif in any confrontation with Sidon's governors.

Zahir, similar to other local strongmen in the Ottoman Empire who did not owe their power to the central Ottoman authorities, was viewed with suspicion by the Ottoman administration. The Ottoman Sultan sent an order to the governor of Damascus Eyalet, Sulayman Pasha al-Azm, to end Zahir's rule in the Galilee. In September 1742, a military force led by Sulayman Pasha besieged Tiberias. After eighty-three days, the siege was lifted due to the departure of the Hajj pilgrim caravan, which was led by the governor of Damascus. Using this respite, Zahir reinforced the defenses of Tiberias and Shefa-Amr. In July 1743, Sulayman Pasha, backed by the governor of Tripoli, the sanjak governors of Jerusalem, Gaza and Ajlun, and the Banu Saqr, renewed his expedition, this time seeking to reduce Deir Hanna and sever Tiberias's links to the outside. Sulayman Pasha died suddenly in the village of Lubya and Zahir used the opportunity to assault his troops and capture their camp.

Ruler of Acre

Interior of the Muallaq Mosque built by Zahir in 1758

Zahir consolidated his authority over Acre in a drawn-out process starting in the 1730s. His Acre-based partner, the Melkite merchant Yusuf al-Qassis, served as an early link between Zahir and the French merchants of Acre. Zahir's first contact with the merchants came in 1731 when he arranged the settlement of debts owed to them by his brother Sa'd. In 1743, To stymie his cousin Muhammad ibn Ali's ambitions in Acre, Zahir had him arrested and executed. In that same year, Zahir requested the tax farm of Acre from Ibrahim Pasha al-Azm, who, wary of Zahir's growing power in the province, rejected the request. Zahir took Acre by force in July 1746.

In the first few years following his takeover of Acre, Zahir resided in the fortress of Deir Hanna in the heart of the Galilee. He began fortifying Acre by building walls around the city in 1750. He built other fortifications and structures in Acre as well. In 1757, he took control of the Mediterranean port villages of Haifa, Tirat Carmel and Tantura, and nearby Mount Carmel, all of which had been administratively part of Damascus, unlike most of Zahir's domain at the time, which was part of Sidon. Zahir's justification to the Ottoman authorities for conquering Palestine's northern coastal plain was to protect the area from Maltese pirates.

In late 1757, the Banu Saqr and Sardiyya tribes, who Zahir maintained ties with, launched an assault on the Hajj caravan as it was returning to Syria from Mecca. Thousands of Muslim pilgrims were killed in the raid, including Sultan Osman III's sister. The attack shocked the Sublime Porte (Ottoman imperial government), and discredited the governor of Damascus and amir al-hajj (commander of the Hajj caravan), Husayn Pasha ibn Makki, for failing to ward off the Bedouin. Husayn Pasha had been serving his first term as governor, having replaced As'ad Pasha al-Azm, who Zahir had peaceful relations with, and among Husayn Pasha's priorities were subduing Zahir and annexing his territories. Husayn Pasha lodged a complaint to the Sublime Porte alleging Zahir's involvement in the raid. Zahir denied the allegation and pressed for an investigation into the assault. He also sought to earn the Sublime Porte's favor by purchasing the looted goods of the caravan from the tribes, including the decorated banners representing the Islamic prophet Muhammad and the sovereignty of the sultan, and restoring them to Sultan Mustafa III (Osman III had died on 30 October). Husayn Pasha was dismissed that year.

Husayn Pasha's replacement, Uthman Pasha al-Kurji, took office in 1760, and sought to retrieve Haifa from Zahir. Uthman Pasha requested that Sidon's governor, Nu'man Pasha, capture the port city on his behalf, to which Nu'man Pasha complied, dispatching 30 Maghrebi soldiers on a vessel captained by a Frenchman on 20 May 1761. The effort was a meager attempt and upon arrival, Zahir had the ship confiscated and its soldiers arrested, while the French captain paid a fine. The issue over Haifa's annexation was smoothed over with the assistance of Yaqub Agha, Zahir's friend and an Ottoman official based in the imperial capital Constantinople. Yaqub had a high-ranking official, Sulayman Agha, revoke Uthman Pasha's order.

Intra-family conflict

In 1761, Zahir had his son Uthman assassinate Zahir's brother Sa'd because the latter had been conspiring with Uthman Pasha and the Banu Saqr to kill and replace Zahir. Sa'd's assassination indirectly led to the first conflict between Zahir and his sons, in this case Uthman. The latter had been promised control over Shefa-Amr in return for the assignment, but Zahir reneged due to pleas by Shefa-Amr's residents not to appoint Uthman. Backed by his full-brothers Ahmad and Sa'd al-Din, who were angered by Zahir's refusal to cede them more territory, Uthman besieged Shefa-Amr in 1765. Under Zahir's instructions, the locals in the vicinity successfully defended the town. The three brothers then appealed to Zahir's eldest and most loyal son, Salibi, to intervene on their behalf, but Salibi was unable to persuade Zahir to make concessions.

The four brothers then attempted to rekindle their alliance with the Banu Saqr, who Zahir had since routed in the Jezreel Valley in 1762. Their efforts failed when Zahir bribed the tribe to withhold their support. He subsequently imprisoned Uthman in Haifa for six months before exiling him to a village near Safed. Between 1765 and 1769, Zahir had Haifa demolished and rebuilt and fortified at a site 3 kilometers (1.9 mi) to the southeast. While the old village was situated on a plain, the new town, which remained a port along the Haifa Bay, was built on a narrow strip of land at the northern foot of Mount Carmel to make it easier to defend by land. In May 1766, Uthman renewed his rebellion against Zahir with backing from the Druze clans of the Galilee, but this coalition was defeated by Zahir near Safed. The conflict expanded to include competing Druze and Shia factions from Mount Lebanon and Jabal Amil, with Mansur Shihab, the leader of one Druze faction, and the Metawali sheikh Qublan, siding with Zahir, while Yusuf Shihab, the leader of the other Druze faction, and Nasif siding with Uthman. Mediation by Isma'il Shihab of Hasbaya culminated in a successful peace summit near Tyre between the two sides and a reconciliation between Zahir and Uthman, whereby the latter was granted control of Nazareth.

In September 1767, conflict between Zahir and his son Ali of Safed commenced over the former's refusal to cede control of the strategic fortress of Deir Hanna or the village of Deir al-Qassi. Before the dispute, Ali had been loyal to Zahir and proven effective in helping him suppress dissent among his other sons and in battles against external enemies. Zahir's forces intimidated Ali into surrendering later that month, and Zahir pardoned him and ceded Deir al-Qassi. Conflict was renewed weeks later, with Ali and his brother Sa'id, backed by Nasif, Yusuf Shihab and Uthman Pasha poised against Zahir, Uthman, Qublan and Sidon's governor Muhammad Pasha al-Azm. As a result of mediation from Ibrahim Sabbagh, Zahir's financial adviser, Zahir settled his dispute with Sa'id, granting the latter control over the villages of Tur'an and Hittin.

Ali refused to negotiate, gained the backing of Salibi, and the two defeated their father, who had since demobilized his troops and was relying on local civilian volunteers from Acre. Zahir remobilized his Maghrebi mercenaries in Acre and defeated Ali, who subsequently fled Deir Hanna in October. Out of sympathy for Ali's children, who remained in the fortress village, he pardoned him on the condition he pay 12,500 piasters and 25 Arabian horses for the fortress. By December 1767, Zahir's intra-family disputes had subsided. Through Uthman's intercession, a close and enduring alliance was established between Zahir and Nasif.

In 1768, the Porte partially recognized or legitimized Zahir's de facto political position by granting him the title of 'Sheikh of Acre, Emir of Nazareth, Tiberias, Safed, and Sheikh of all Galilee'. This recognition was tempered when Yaqub Agha was executed shortly after and Sulayman Agha died in 1770, depriving Zahir of close allies in Constantinople. In November 1770, Uthman Pasha engineered the replacement of Sidon's governor with his own son, Darwish Pasha, and succeeded in having his other son, Muhammad Pasha, appointed governor of Tripoli. Uthman Pasha was committed to ending Zahir's rule, which was left especially vulnerable with the loss of support in the imperial capital. In response to threats from Damascus, Zahir further strengthened Acre's fortifications and armed every adult male in the city with a rifle, two pistols and a sabre. He mended ties with his sons, who held iltizam throughout the Galilee, and consolidated his relationship with the Shia clans of Jabal Amil, thereby cementing his local alliances.

Alliance with Ali Bey and war with Damascus

Although Zahir was bereft of support in Constantinople and Damascus, he was forging a new alliance with the increasingly autonomous mamluk governor of Egypt and the Hejaz, Ali Bey al-Kabir. Seeking to extend his influence to Syria for strategic purposes vis-a-vis his conflict with the Porte, Ali Bey had a mutual interest with Zahir in subduing Damascus. He dispatched 15,000-20,000 Egyptian troops to the port cities of Gaza and Jaffa under commander Ismail Bey. Together, Zahir and Ismail crossed the Jordan Valley with their armies and moved north toward Damascus. They made it as far as Muzayrib, but Ismail abruptly halted his army's advance after confronting Uthman Pasha as he was leading the Hajj caravan in order to avoid harming the Muslim pilgrims. Ismail considered attacking the governor at that point to be a grave religious offense. He subsequently withdrew to Jaffa.

Zahir was surprised and angered by Ismail's reticence to attack. In a unilateral move to impose his authority in Uthman Pasha's jurisdiction, Zahir had his son Ahmad and other subordinate commanders collect taxes from villages in Damascus Eyalet, including Quneitra, while he dispatched Ali on a campaign against the Banu Nu'aym tribe in the Hauran, also part of Damascus. In response to Zahir's indignation, Ali Bey sent him 35,000 troops under Abu al-Dhahab in May. Together with Ismail's troops in Jaffa, the Egyptian army captured Damascus from Uthman Pasha in June, while Zahir and his Metawali allies captured the city of Sidon from Darwish Pasha. However, Abu al-Dhahab was persuaded by Ismail that confronting the Ottoman sultan, who carried a high religious authority as the caliph of Islam, was "truly ... a scheme of the Devil" and a crime against their religion. A short time after capturing Damascus, Abu al-Dhahab and Ismail withdrew from the city, whose inhabitants were "completely astonished at this amazing event", according to a chronicler of the time period. The sudden turn of events compelled Zahir's forces to withdraw from Sidon on 20 June.

Abu al-Dhahab's withdrawal frustrated Zahir who proceeded to make independent moves, first by capturing Jaffa in August 1771, after driving out its governor Ahmad Bey Tuqan. Shortly thereafter, he captured the cotton-producing Bani Sa'b district (centered around Tulkarm), which was held by Mustafa Bey Tuqan. Zahir had Jaffa fortified and garrisoned with 2,000 men. By the end of August, Uthman Pasha restored his control over Ramla and Gaza, but Zahir retained Jaffa.

Peak of power

Zahir decisively defeated the army of Governor Uthman Pasha al-Kurji near Lake Hula

In an attempt to expand his zone of influence to Nablus, the commercial center of Palestine and its agriculturally-rich hinterland, Zahir besieged Nablus in late 1771. By then, he had secured an alliance with the Jarrars, who were incensed at Uthman Pasha's appointment of Mustafa Bey Tuqan as the collector of the miri (Hajj caravan tax). Nablus was under the de facto control of the Tuqan and Nimr clans, local rivals of the Jarrars. The loss of Jaffa and Bani Sa'b stripped Nablus of its sea access. Nablus was defended by 12,000 mostly peasant riflemen under Nimr and Tuqan commanders. After nine days of clashes, Zahir withdrew to avoid a costly stalemate. As he departed Nablus, his forces raided many of the city's satellite villages, from which its peasant defenders originated.

Uthman Pasha had resumed his governorship of Damascus at the end of June 1771 and was determined to eliminate Zahir. To that end, he assembled a coalition that included Darwish Pasha, Muhammad Pasha and Yusuf Shihab. In late August, Uthman Pasha reached Lake Hula at the head of 10,000 soldiers. Before Uthman Pasha could be joined by his allies, Zahir and Nasif confronted the governor on 2 September. Zahir's son Ali raided Uthman Pasha's camp, while Zahir's other troops blocked them from the west. Uthman Pasha's troops hastily retreated towards the Jordan River, the only place where they were not surrounded. The overwhelming majority drowned in the river, with only 300–500 survivors, including Uthman Pasha, who almost drowned before being rescued by one of his men. The Battle of Lake Hula marked a decisive victory for Zahir, who entered Acre triumphantly with the spoils of Uthman Pasha's camp. He was celebrated by the city's residents and on the way there, had been given honorary gun salutes by the fortified villages between Tiberias and Acre. He also received congratulations from the French merchant ships at the port of Acre. Zahir's victory encouraged Ali Bey to relaunch his Syrian campaign.

Following his victory, Zahir had Darwish Pasha vacate Sidon on 13 October. He returned two days later after receiving Yusuf Shihab's backing. Zahir decided to move against Yusuf Shihab and, together with Nasif, confronted him and his 37,000 men at the village of Nabatieh on 20 October. Zahir's Metawali cavalry feigned retreat, luring Yusuf Shihab's army into a place where they were surrounded by Zahir's men, who dealt them a decisive blow. Yusuf Shihab thereafter retreated to his mountain village of Deir al-Qamar, leaving Sidon under Sheikh Ali Jumblatt and 3,000 Druze defenders. When news of Zahir's victory reached them, Ali Jumblatt and Darwish Pasha withdrew from the city, which was subsequently occupied by Zahir and Nasif. Uthman Pasha and all of his sons were consequently dismissed from their posts by the Porte. Although he could not capture Nablus and its hinterland, Zahir's domain by the end of 1771 extended from Sidon to Jaffa and included an influential presence in the Hauran plain.

Muhammad Tuqan captured Jaffa from Zahir in May 1772, the same month that Ali Bey arrived in Acre to seek Zahir's protection after being forced out of Egypt by rival mamluks. In June, the Ottoman loyalist Jazzar Pasha took over Beirut from local Druze sheikhs. The Druze had previously been in conflict with Zahir, but due to Jazzar's offensive, the circumstances fostered an alliance between them, Zahir, and the Metawali clans. Zahir and Ali Bey captured Jaffa with help from the Russian Fleet after a nine-month siege, in which they exhausted many of their resources. Before that, in late October 1772, Zahir and his Druze and Metawali allies captured Beirut from Jazzar, also with Russian naval support.

In March 1773, Ali Bey left Palestine to reestablish himself in Egypt, but Abu al-Dhahab had him killed when he arrived. With this came an end to the alliance that politically and economically aligned Egypt and Palestine for the first time since the early 16th century. While their attempts to unite their territories were unsuccessful, their rule posed the most serious domestic challenge to Ottoman rule in the 18th century. As a consequence of Ali Bey's death, Zahir moved to strengthen his hold over Jaffa and capture Jerusalem, but he failed in the latter attempt. All of Syria came under the official command of Uthman Pasha al-Misri in 1774 in order to bring stability to its provinces. Misri avoided conflict with Zahir and sought to establish friendly terms with him. He convinced the Porte to appoint Zahir governor of Sidon as long as Zahir paid all of the taxes the province had owed the Porte. Misri further promoted Zahir in February by declaring him 'Governor of Sidon, Nablus, Gaza, Ramla, Jaffa and Jabal Ajlun', although this title was not imperially sanctioned. In effect, Zahir was the de facto ruler over Palestine (with the exception of Nablus and Jerusalem), Jabal Amil, and the Syrian coast from Gaza to Beirut.

Downfall and death

Zahir al-Umar's autonomous sheikhdom in 1774

Misri was recalled to Constantinople in the summer of 1774 and Muhammad Pasha al-Azm was appointed governor of Damascus. Zahir's governorship of Sidon was thus left vulnerable because it had largely depended on guarantees from Misri. Azm sought peaceful relations with Zahir, but the Porte, having made peace with Russia and relieving itself from the Russo-Ottoman War, aimed to move against the rebellious rulers of its provinces, including Zahir. Azm secured an official pardon of Zahir from the Porte in April 1775, but his governorship of Sidon was not preserved. Meanwhile, conflict between Zahir and his sons was renewed, with Ali attempting to capture Zahir's villages in the Galilee in 1774. Zahir defeated Ali with support from his other son Ahmad. Later that year, Zahir's rule was challenged by his son Sa'id, Zahir armed and mobilized 300 of Acre's civilian inhabitants to counter Sa'id. Ali continued to undermine his father's rule by encouraging defections by his Maghrebi mercenaries through bribes.

On 20 May 1775, Abu al-Dhahab, having been encouraged by the Porte to eradicate Zahir's influence, captured Jaffa and slaughtered its male inhabitants. News of the massacre spurred the people of Acre into a mass panic, with its residents fleeing and storing their goods in the city's Khan al-Ifranj caravanserai for safekeeping. On 24 May, Zahir also departed the city, leaving for Sidon. Ali subsequently entered and declared himself governor. However, his Maghrebi troops abandoned him and looted the city as Abu al-Dhahab's troops approached it a few days later. They proceeded to conquer Sidon by sea, prompting Zahir to seek shelter with Metawali allies in Jabal Amil. Some of Zahir's sons attempted to secure their own peace with Abu al-Dhahab, but the latter became ill and died on 10 June, causing the collapse and chaotic withdrawal of his Egyptian troops from Acre. Zahir reentered the city two days later and reestablished order with the assistance of Dinkizli. However, the setback of Abu al-Dhahab's death did not preclude the Porte from attempting to check Zahir's power and Sidon remained in direct government control.

On 23 April, the Porte dispatched the Ottoman Navy admiral, Hasan Pasha al-Jazayiri, to blockade Acre. He reached Haifa on 7 August, taking Jaffa from Zahir's son-in-law, Karim al-Ayyubi. Hasan Pasha ordered Zahir to pay arrears of the miri accruing from 1768. Zahir initially agreed to pay 500,000 piasters of the total amount upfront and a further 50,000 piasters to Hasan Pasha personally to "spare the blood of the people". Hasan Pasha accepted Zahir's proposals, but the arrangements fell apart.

The accounts differ as to why the negotiations collapsed, but agree that their failure was the result of disputes within Zahir's inner circle between Sabbagh and Dinkizli. Most accounts claim that Sabbagh urged Zahir not to pay the requested sums and agitated for war. Sabbagh argued that Zahir's treasury lacked the funds and that Zahir's forces were capable of defeating Hasan Pasha. Dinkizli pressed Zahir to pay, arguing that mass bloodshed could be averted. He advised Zahir to force Sabbagh to pay the amount if Zahir could not afford it. When the negotiations dragged on, Hasan Pasha pressed for a full repayment of the miri arrears, warning Zahir that he would be executed if he failed to do so. Insulted by the threat, he threatened to destroy Hasan Pasha's fleet unless he withdrew.

Hasan Pasha proceeded to bombard Acre, and Zahir's Maghrebi artillerymen responded with cannon fire, damaging two of imperial ships. The following day, Hasan Pasha's fleet fired roughly 7,000 shells against Acre without returning fire from the city's artillerymen; Dinkizli ordered his Maghrebi forces to disengage because as Muslims they were prohibited from attacking the sultan's military. Realizing his long-time lieutenant's betrayal, Zahir attempted to flee Acre on 21 August or 22 August. As he departed its gates, he was fired on by Ottoman troops, with a bullet striking his neck and causing him to fall off his horse. A Maghrebi soldier then decapitated him. Zahir's severed head was subsequently delivered to Constantinople.

Aftermath

Following his death, Sabbagh and Zahir's sons Abbas and Salih were arrested by Hasan Pasha's men. Sabbagh was executed by Hasan Pasha. The sons were imprisoned in Constantinople. The Porte confiscated property belonging to Zahir, his sons and Sabbagh, valued at 41,500,000 piasters. Also arrested with Zahir's sons was their physician, who was known to be skilled. The physician was summoned by the sultan to treat his ailing wife, which he did successfully, earning him his release and a medal of honor from the sultan. The physician used his influence with the authorities to have Zahir's children and grandchildren released and returned to their hometowns. Dinkizli was rewarded with the governorship of Gaza, but died en route to his new headquarters, likely having been poisoned by Hasan Pasha.

Zahir's sons Uthman, Ahmad, Sa'id and Ali continued to resist government forces, with Ali putting up the longest fight from his fortress in Deir Hanna. On 22 July 1776, the fortress capitulated to the combined forces of Hasan Pasha and Jazzar Pasha. Ali fled, but was killed later that year in the area between Tiberias and Safed. By then, the rest of Zahir's sons had been arrested or killed. Abbas was later appointed by Sultan Selim III as the sheikh of Safed. In 1799, when Napoleon invaded Palestine and withdrew after being defeated by Jazzar in Acre, Abbas and Salih left Safed with the departing French forces. This marked the end of Zaydani influence in the Galilee.

Constantin-François Volney, who wrote the first European biography of Zahir in 1787, lists three main reasons for Zahir's failure. First, the lack of "internal good order and justness of principle". Secondly, the early concessions he made to his children. Third, and most of all, the avarice of his adviser and confidant, Ibrahim Sabbagh.

Politics

Administration

Modern, artistic representation of Zahir in Acre, Ziad Daher Zedany

Zahir appointed many of his brothers and sons as local administrators, particularly after he consolidated his control over Acre, which became the capital of his territory. Except for Acre and Haifa, Zahir divided the remainder of his territory between his relatives. His eldest brother was appointed to Deir Hanna, and his younger brothers Yusuf and Salih were installed in I'billin and Arraba, respectively. Zahir appointed his eldest son Salibi as the multazim of Tiberias. Salibi was killed in 1773 fighting alongside Ali Bey's forces in Egypt. His death deeply distressed Zahir, who was around 80 years old at the time. He appointed Uthman in Kafr Kanna then Shefa-Amr, Abbas in Nazareth, Ali in Safed, and Ahmad in Saffuriya. Ahmad replaced Salibi in Tiberias as well, and also conquered Ajlun and Salt in Transjordan. Ahmad was given authority over Deir Hanna after Sa'd's death. Zahir appointed his son-in-law Karim al-Ayyubi in Jaffa and Gaza, while Dinkizli was made multazim in Sidon in 1774. The appointment of Zahir's relatives and close associates was meant to ensure the efficient administration of his expanding realm and the loyalty of his circle. Among their chief functions was to ensure the supply of cotton to Acre. It is not clear if these posts were recognized by the Ottoman government.

Zahir had an aide who jointly served in the capacity of mudabbir (manager) and vizier to assist him throughout much of his rule in matters of finance and correspondence. This official had always been a Melkite (local Greek Catholic). His first vizier was Yusuf al-Arqash, followed by Yusuf Qassis in 1749. Qassis continued in this role until the early 1760s when he was arrested for attempting to smuggle wealth he had accumulated during his service to Malta. He was succeeded by Ibrahim Sabbagh, who had served as a personal physician for Zahir in 1757 when he replaced Zahir's longtime physician Sulayman Suwwan. The latter was a local Greek Orthodox Christian and when he failed to properly treat Zahir during a serious illness in 1757, Qassis used the opportunity to replace him with Sabbagh, a friend and fellow Melkite. Sabbagh became the most influential figure in Zahir's administration, particularly as Zahir grew old. This caused consternation among Zahir's sons as they viewed Sabbagh to be a barrier between them and their father and an impediment to their growing power in Zahir's territory. Sabbagh was able to gain increased influence with Zahir largely because of the wealth he amassed through his integral role in managing Zahir's cotton monopoly. Much of this wealth was acquired through Sabbagh's own deals where he would purchase cotton and other cash crops from the local farmers and sell them to the European merchants in Syria's coastal cities and to his Melkite partners in Damietta, Egypt. Sabbagh served other important roles as well, including as Zahir's political adviser, main administrator and chief representative with European merchants and Ottoman provincial and imperial officials.

There were other officials in Zahir's civil administration in Acre, including chief religious officials, namely the mufti and the qadi (judge). The mufti was the chief scholar among the ulema (Muslim scholarly community) and oversaw the interpretation of Islamic law in Zahir's realm. Although he was appointed by the Sublime Porte, Zahir managed to maintain the same mufti for many years at a time in contrast with the typical Syrian province which saw its mufti replaced annually. The mufti was a Damascene, Abd al-Halim al-Shuwayki, who had been an old friend of Zahir's family when they were based in Tiberias and had often hosted Zahir during his business trips to Damascus. Zahir directly appointed the qadi from Palestine's local ulema, but his judicial decisions had to be approved by the qadi of Sidon. Zahir had a chief imam, who in the last years of his rule was Ali ibn Khalid of Sha'ab. An agha was also appointed to supervise the customs payments made by the European merchants in Acre and Haifa.

Zahir's initial military forces consisted of his Zaydani kinsmen and the inhabitants of the areas he ruled. They numbered about 200 men in the early 1720s, but grew to about 1,500 in the early 1730s. During this early period of Zahir's career, he also had the key military backing of the Banu Saqr and other Bedouin tribes. As he consolidated his hold over Galilee, his army rose to over 4,000 men, many of the later recruits being peasants who supported Zahir for protecting them against Bedouin raids. This suppression of the Bedouin in turn caused the tribes to largely withdraw their military backing of Zahir. The core of his private army were the Maghrebi mercenaries. The Maghrebis' commander, Dinkizli, also served as Zahir's top military commander from 1735 until Dinkizli's defection during the Ottoman siege of Acre in 1775. From the time Zahir reconciled with Sheikh Nasif of Jabal Amil in 1768 until most of the remainder of his rule, Zahir also counted on the support of Nasif's roughly 10,000 Metawali cavalrymen. However, the Metawalis did not aid Zahir during the Ottoman offensive of 1775. Zahir's fortified villages and towns were equipped with artillery installments and his army's arsenal consisted of cannons, matchlock rifles, pistols and lances. Most of the firearms were imported from Venice or France, and by the early 1770s, the Russian imperial navy.

General security

Zahir rebuilt the Crusader-era fortress at Khirbat Jiddin

According to Joudah, the two principal conditions Zahir established to foster his sheikhdom's prosperity and its survival were "security and justice". Before Zahir's consolidation of power, the villages of northern Palestine were prone to Bedouin raids and robberies and the roads were under constant threat from highway robbers and Bedouin attacks. Despite being left destitute following the looting raids, the inhabitants of these agrarian villages remained obligated to pay the Ottoman government the miri. To avoid punitive measures for not paying the miri, the inhabitants would abandon their villages for safety in the larger towns or the desert. This situation hurt the economy of the region as the raids sharply reduced the villages' agricultural output, tax collectors could not collect their impositions, and trade could not be safely conducted due to the insecurity of the roads.

By 1746, Zahir had established order in the lands he controlled. He coopted the dominant Bedouin tribe of the region, the Banu Saqr, which greatly contributed to the establishment of security in northern Palestine. Moreover, Zahir charged the sheikhs of the towns and villages of northern Palestine with ensuring the safety of the roads in their respective vicinity and required them to compensate anyone who was robbed of their property. General security reached a level whereby "an old woman with gold in her hand could travel from one place to another without fear or danger", according to Zahir's biographer Sabbagh.

The period of calm that persisted between 1744 and 1765 greatly boosted the security and economy of the Galilee. The security established in the region encouraged people from other parts of the empire to immigrate there. Conflict between the local clans and between Zahir and his sons remained limited to periodic clashes, while there were no external attacks against Zahir's domains. While Zahir used force to strengthen his position, the local inhabitants generally took comfort in his rule, which historian Thomas Philip described as "relatively just and reasonably fair". According to the traveler Richard Pococke, who visited the area in 1737, the local people had great admiration for Zahir, especially for his war against bandits on the roads.

Economic policies

In addition to providing security, Zahir and his local deputies adopted a policy of aiding peasants cultivate and harvest their farmlands as a means to ensure the steady supply of agricultural products for export. These benefits included loans to peasants and the distribution of free seeds. Financial burdens on the peasants were also reduced as Zahir offered tax relief during dry seasons or when harvests were poor. This same tax relief was extended to newcomers who sought to begin cultivating new farmlands. Moreover, Zahir assumed responsibility for outstanding payments the peasants owed to merchants from credit-based transactions, if the merchants could provide proof of unsatisfactory payment. According to Philipp, Zahir "had the good business sense not to exploit peasants to the point of destruction, but kept his financial demands to a more moderate level". He regularly paid the Ottoman authorities their financial dues, ensuring a degree of stability in his relationship with the sultanate.

After Zahir conquered Acre, he transformed it from a decaying village into a fortified market hub for Palestinian products, including silk, wheat, olive oil, tobacco and cotton, which he exported to Europe. Zahir monopolized the cotton market, controlling its production and foreign export. He did business with European merchants based in northern Palestine's ports, who competed with one another for the cotton and grain cultivated in the rural villages under Zahir's control or influence in the Galilee's hinterland and Jabal Amil. Before this, European merchants dealt directly with local cotton growers, but Zahir, with the help of Sabbagh, ended this system by assuming the role of middleman between the foreign merchants and the growers living under his rule. This allowed him to both monopolize cotton production and the merchants' price for the product. Zahir's pricing for the local cash crops prevented "exploitation" of the peasants and local merchants by European merchants and their "manipulation of the prices", according to Joudah. This caused financial losses to the Europeans, who lodged numerous complaints to the French and English ambassadors to the Ottoman government. A formal agreement to regulate commerce between Zahir and the European merchants was reached in 1753. Zahir further encouraged trade by offering local merchants interest-free loans.

The high European demand for cotton enabled Zahir to become wealthy and finance his autonomous sheikhdom. Control of the cotton market also allowed him to gain practical control of the Sidon Eyalet, except for the city of Sidon. With mixed success, Zahir attempted to have French merchant ships redirected from the ports of Tyre and Sidon to Haifa, in order to benefit from the customs fees he could exact. Acre underwent an economic boom as a result of its position in the cotton trade with France.

Relationship with religious minorities

St. Gabriel Church in Nazareth was built under the auspices of Zahir's rule

Zahir governed with religious tolerance and encouraged the involvement of religious minorities in the local economy. As part of his wider efforts to increase the Galilee's population, Zahir invited Jews to settle in Tiberias around 1742, along with Muslims. He did not consider Jews to be a threat to his rule and believed that their connections with the Jewish diaspora would encourage economic development in Tiberias, which the Jews considered particularly holy. His tolerance towards the Jews, the cuts in taxes levied on them, and assistance in the construction of Jewish homes, schools and synagogues, helped foster the growth of the Jewish community. The initial Jewish immigrants came from Damascus and were later followed by Jews from Aleppo, Cyprus and Smyrna. Many Jews in Safed, which was governed by Zahir's son Ali, moved to Tiberias in the 1740s to take advantage of better opportunities in that city, which at the time was under Zahir's direct rule. Jewish communities were also established in the villages of Kafr Yasif and Shefa-Amr under Zahir's watch.

Zahir encouraged the settlement of Christians in Acre, in order to contribute to the city's commercial dynamism in trade and manufacturing. Christians grew to become the largest religious group in the city by the late 18th century. Zahir's territory became a haven for Melkites and Greek Orthodox from other parts of Ottoman Syria, who migrated there for better trade and employment opportunities. In Nazareth, the Christian community prospered and grew, receiving an influx of Maronites and Greek Orthodox from Mount Lebanon and Transjordan, respectively. The Melkite patriarch was based in Acre between 1765 and 1768. Along with Jews, Christians contributed to the economy of Zahir's sheikhdom through their relative ease in dealing with Christian European merchants, the financial support networks many of them maintained in Damascus or Constantinople, and their role in service industries.

Zahir allowed the Franciscan community of Nazareth to build churches in 1730, 1741 and 1754 on sites Christians associated with the life of Jesus. He allowed the Greek Orthodox community to build St. Gabriel's Church over a ruined Crusader church in Nazareth, and in 1750 they enlarged St. George's Church. The largest Christian community in Acre, the Melkites, built the city's largest church, St. Andrew's Church, in 1764, while the Maronites built St. Mary's Church for their congregation in 1750. As a testament to the exceptional prosperity Christians enjoyed under Zahir, no further churches were built under the auspices of the less tolerant successive rulers of Acre and the Galilee.

A strong relationship was maintained between Zahir and the Shia Muslim peasants of Jabal Amil and their sheikhs and merchant class. Zahir maintained law and order in Jabal Amil, while leaving its mostly Shia inhabitants to their own devices. The Shia also benefited economically from Zahir's monopoly of the cotton industry and their sheikhs provided him men of great military skills. Zahir was a key backer of the Shia in their successful conflict with the Druze Jumblatt clan and the Shihabs under Mulhim.

The relationship between Zahir and the rural sheikhs of the Druze of Mount Lebanon under the Shihabs were mixed. While Mansur Shihab of the Chouf allied with Zahir, his nephew and rival, Yusuf Shihab of the Tripoli region remained supportive of the Ottomans. Owing largely to the conflict between Zahir and the Druze emirs of Mount Lebanon, the Druze of the Galilee did not fare well under Zahir and his Zaydani clan. In the oral traditions of the Galilee's Druze, Zahir's reign was synonymous with oppression. During this period, many Druze villages were destroyed or abandoned, and there was a partial Druze exodus from the Galilee, especially from the villages around Safed, to the Hauran.

Family

Genealogical tree of the Banu Zaydan

Zahir had five wives during his lifetime. His marriages were politically advantageous, helping to seal his rule over areas he captured and consolidate relationships with Bedouin tribes, local clans, or urban notables. His first wife was the daughter of the Damascene religious notable, Sayyid Muhammad al-Husayni. Among his other wives was a woman from the Sardiyya tribe, and the daughters of the mukhtars of Bi'ina and Deir al-Qassi.

Zahir had eight sons from his wives, and according to Tobias Smollett, a daughter as well. His sons, from eldest to youngest, were Salibi, Ali, Uthman, Sa'id, Ahmad, Salih, Sa'd al-Din and Abbas. His daughter Nijma was married to Karim al-Ayyubi, who was a cousin of Zahir. By 1773, Zahir had a total of 272 children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren.

As Zahir consolidated his power and reduced external threats to his rule in the 1760s, his sons aspired for more influence and ultimately fought against their father and each other in order to secure their place as Zahir's successor. Besides support from elements of the Zaydani clan, Zahir's sons maintained their own power bases, largely derived from their mothers' clans, and also made their own alliances with other powerful actors in the region. Zahir was victorious in the many conflicts he had with his sons, but their frequent dissent weakened his rule and contributed to his downfall. Before his sons' rebellions, Zahir had eliminated other relatives who challenged his power.

Legacy

The fortress of Shefa-'Amr, built by Zahir's son Uthman

Zahir's rule radically changed the urban landscape of the Galilee. With the restoration and refortification of Acre and the establishment of the secondary port city of Haifa, the Galilee's ties with the Mediterranean world were significantly strengthened. Following his death, his successor Jazzar Pasha maintained the cotton monopoly Zahir had established and the Galilee's economy remained almost completely dependent on the cotton trade. The region prospered for decades, but with the rise of cotton production in the southern United States during the early–mid-19th century, European demand shifted away from Palestine's cotton. Because of its dependency on the crop, the region experienced a sharp economic downturn from which it could not recover. The cotton crop was largely abandoned, as were many villages, and the peasantry shifted its focus to subsistence agriculture.

In the late 19th century, the Palestine Exploration Fund's Claude Reignier Conder wrote that the Ottomans had successfully destroyed the power of Palestine's indigenous ruling families who "had practically been their own masters" but had been "ruined so that there is no longer any spirit left in them". Among these families were the "proud race" of Zahir, which was still held in high esteem, but was powerless and poor. Zahir's modern-day descendants in the Galilee use the surname 'Dhawahri' or 'al-Zawahirah' in Zahir's honor. The Dhawahri constitute one of the traditional elite Muslim clans of Nazareth, alongside the Fahum, Zu'bi and Onallas families. Other places in the Galilee where descendants of Zahir's clan live are Bi'ina and Kafr Manda and, before its 1948 destruction, Damun. Many of the inhabitants of modern-day northern Israel, particularly the towns and villages where Zahir or his family left an architectural legacy, hold Zahir in high regard.

Although he was mostly overlooked by historians of the Middle East, some scholars view Zahir's rule as a forerunner to Palestinian nationalism. Among them is Karl Sabbagh, who asserts the latter view in his book Palestine: A Personal History, which was widely reviewed in the British press in 2010. Zahir was gradually integrated into Palestinian historiography. In Murad Mustafa Dabbagh's Biladuna Filastin (1965), a multi-volume work about Palestine's history, Zahir is referred to as the "greatest Palestinian appearing in the eighteenth century". The Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) radio station, Voice of Palestine, broadcast a series about Zahir in 1966, praising him as a Palestinian national hero who fought against Ottoman imperialism. Zahir is considered by many Arab nationalists as a pioneer of Arab liberation from foreign occupation. According to Joudah,

However historians may look at Shaykh Zahir al-'Umar and his movement, he is highly respected by the Arabs of the East. In particular the Palestinians consider him a national hero who struggled against Ottoman authority for the welfare of his people. This praise is reflected in the recent academic, cultural and literary renaissance within Palestinian society that has elevated Zahir and his legacy to near-iconic status. These re-readings are not always bound to historical objectivity but are largely inspired by the ongoing consequences of the Nakba. Still it is precise to say that Shaykh Zahir had successfully established an autonomous state, or a "little Kingdom," as Albert Hourani called it, in most of Palestine for over a quarter of a century.

Building works

Zahir and his family built fortresses, watchtowers, warehouses, and khans (caravanserais). These buildings improved the domestic administration and general security of the Galilee. Today, many are in a state of disrepair and remain outside the scope of Israel's cultural preservation laws.

Acre

Section of the walls of Acre built by Zahir in 1750

Zahir rebuilt the Crusader walls around Acre. Although considerable in their extent, Zahir's walls were designed to ward off pirates and Bedouin raiders, and could not defend well against the Ottoman military. Under Jazzar Pasha, major reconstruction of the walls was undertaken and the new walls largely remain in place in the present day. Part of Zahir's contributions are extant, mainly a section of the northeastern wall, and are characterized by small stone blocks. An inscription dated to 1750 on a marble slab that was removed from this part of the wall credits Zahir as the builder:

By the order of Allah this wall was erected in Akka [Acre] by a nobleman who generously acted.
The father of the heroes he is, the beloved Zahir.
May Allah reinforce his government forever.

The Khan al-Shawarda caravanserai was restored by Zahir

He also built on top of a number of Crusader and Mamluk structures in the city. Among these were the caravanserais of Khan al-Shawarda and its Burj al-Sultan tower and Khan al-Shunah. The Crusader plan and main structure of Khan al-Shunah was preserved by Zahir in his restoration of the building in 1764, and it remained in use as an inn and market for traders until Haifa overtook Acre as the commercial center of the region in the late 19th century. It thereafter became housing for the poor. The original structure of the Suq al-Abyad (the White Bazaar), located in the northeastern corner of the walled city, was built by Zahir, though most of the present structure dates to an 1815 reconstruction by Acre's governor, Sulayman Pasha.

In 1748, Zahir commissioned the construction of the Muallaq Mosque. The building had been used as a synagogue; after Zahir converted it for Muslim use, he compensated the Jewish worshippers with property elsewhere in the city. The Zaytuna Mosque was built in Acre during his rule at the initiative of Hajj Muhammad al-Sadiq, or the local scholar Muhammad Shadi al-Farid, who financed its construction.

Nazareth

The Seraya of Nazareth, built by Zahir

Zahir built the Seraya government house in Nazareth, which served as the city's municipal headquarters until 1991.

Haifa

In the new settlement of Haifa that he founded, Zahir built a wall around the town with four towers and two gates, none of which are extant. They existed at least until the early 19th century when David Roberts described and sketched the wall. Within Haifa, Zahir built Burj al-Salam, a two-story square tower, which remained intact until the 1970s. The original great mosque in new Haifa was probably built by Zahir, but most of the present building is a later construction. He also built a customs building and a saraya (government residence). The remains of the saray consist of a few cross-vaults lying on square pillars in a car park, while the eastern section of the structure is used for warehousing.

Tiberias

The Omari Mosque in Tiberias, built by Zahir

Zahir built fortifications around Tiberias in 1739–1740. Part of the walls originally ran along the shore of the Sea of Galilee and had eighteen towers. The fortifications were severely damaged in the 1837 earthquake. Most of the walls have been destroyed or form part of modern structures, while eight of the towers are extant.

The two-story square citadel with its four-round towers, located at the northeastern section of the fortifications, remains extant. Both stories of the citadel are characterized by three rows of cross vaults. The citadel was built by Zahir's son Salibi. As of 2001, the upper floor was operated as a restaurant, while the lower floor contained an art gallery. The citadel is locally often misidentified as the "Crusader castle/fortress".

In the present center of Tiberias, Zahir built a mosque, known after him as the Omari Mosque or the Zahiri Mosque. It consists of a prayer hall, a portico and a minaret. It was built with alternating white and black stone, typical of the architectural style of Zahir's building works. While there have been restorations since it was first constructed in the 1740s, the mosque retains its original plan.

Villages

Remains of the palace complex at Deir Hanna built by Zahir, his brother Sa'd or son Ali. Zahir was headquartered in Deir Hanna before moving to Acre

Fortifications and other structures were built in the rural villages under Zahir's control. The Zaydans built a double wall around Deir Hanna, making it "the best example of a fortified village in the Galilee", according to Andrew Petersen. Zahir's brother Sa'd built the inner walls and the twelve towers which hovered over them, while Zahir built the outer walls. His son Ali added towers, detached from the walls, in front of the eastern and western sides. They also built a palace complex, including a mosque. The Zaydans' building works in Deir Hanna were severely damaged during Jazzar Pasha's siege. Nonetheless, considerable parts of the structures remain intact and as late as 1960, the town retained the same form of the fortress, with no structures built outside of the lines of the original fortifications.

North of Deir Kifa (in Lebanon) Zahir built the castle of Kulat Marun. In Khirbat Jiddin, Zahir rebuilt the demolished Crusader fortress with the addition of a mosque and hammam (bathhouse). The mosque was destroyed by Israeli forces when the village was captured during the 1948 Arab-Israeli War. In Shefa-Amr, Zahir's son Uthman built a large fortress with four towers, of which one remains standing. His son Ahmad rebuilt the Crusader fortress in Saffuriya. In the village of I'billin, Zahir's brother Yusuf built fortifications and a mosque. The I'billin fortress was later used as the headquarters of Aqil Agha, the 19th-century, semi-autonomous Arab sheikh of the Galilee.

In Tibnin, in modern Lebanon, and in Safed, Zahir or his son Ali rebuilt Crusader fortifications. Zahir fortified the village of Harbaj, though the village and its fort were in ruins by the late 19th century. At Tabgha on the Sea of Galilee, Zahir built five fountains, one of which remained standing by the 19th century. That remaining fountain was the largest of its kind in the Galilee.

See also

• Fakhr al-Din II, tax farmer and local strongman of Mount Lebanon, the Galilee, and the adjacent coasts in the late 16th–early 17th centuries.
• District of Acre
• Gigi and Bella Hadid: American models, claims descent from Zahir al-Umar through their father, Mohamed Hadid

References

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Further reading

• it:Giovanni Mariti, 1774, Istoria della guerra della Soria parte 1. proseguita fino alla morte di AlyBey dell'Egitto, parte 1
• it:Giovanni Mariti, 1774, Istoria della guerra della Soria parte 2. proseguita fino alla morte di AlyBey dell'Egitto, parte 2